Because the verb in the following sentence appears too late,
the reader will have to work unnecessarily to understand the information.
(The subject of the main clause is in red and the verb of the main clause
is in blue).

The reason
why the lions were hiding in the tall grass by the lake, where many animals
came to drink, was to ambush antelope.

Revision:

To ambush antelope,
the lionshid
in the tall grass by the lake.

or

The lionshid in the tall grass by the lake to ambush
antelope.

Note that the unrevised sentence
exemplifies the 'blah blah blah is' form, in which the writer places
many words before and sometimes after a 'to be' verb. Like a see-saw, the
sentence balances on the weak verb 'to be'.

Unfortunately, abstracts in research papers are often written
in a noun-based style. Find the late-appearing, main
verbs
in the following examples.

The comparative
distribution of organic components in
different soil fractions as a result of the activities of two of the most
representative species of termites (Cubitermes niokoloensis and Macrotermes
bellicosus) in the semi-arid savanna of Senegal wasassessed by physical fractionation.

The fact
that statistical analysis of sampling data pertinent to zoosporic fungal species
frequency and distribution with moss-covered and proximal exposed soils has
led to the conclusion that species in a specific habitat are more likely to
occur with one moss/soil complex than another raises
many questions.

In the following example, the verb vary appears too
late, the adjective herbivory might be a noun, and the noun effects
might be a verb. The author was trying to do too much in one sentence and
was also trying to reduce prepositional phrases but needed the first one.

Above-ground
herbivory (which we will refer to as grazing) effects,
both direct and indirect, on below-ground biota vary
with site conditions.

The verb is still too removed from the subject in this revision:

The effects
of grazing by above-ground herbivores on soil organisms vary
with site conditions.

Find alternatives:

Cattle, antelope,
and other grazers can directly and indirectly affect soil organisms, and these
effectsvary
with site conditions.